Thanksgiving day recap:

Served a 12-pound turkey, green bean casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cloverleaf dinner rolls (burnt), roasted carrots, lettuce salad, cranberry-pineapple relish (YUM!) a cherry crumb pie, and a pumpkin pie.

The turkey was nicely browned and crisp and over 180 degrees when I tested it with a meat thermometer but when Russ started carving, all the juices came out pink! I had a little flailing freakout and begged everyone not to eat the turkey or surely they would all perish. But both the dark and white meat were well-cooked and (so I was told) tasted delicious. I declined the turkey because I hate turkey and get nauseous every time I eat it. Everyone else spent a lot of time poking their forks at the various slices of turkey and saying, "Well, it looks okay! I'm sure it's fine." I'll feel a lot better in about 12 hours when I'm certain that no one has developed food poisoning.

My parents shared the day with us. My mom had all of her tests yesterday and no results are in yet, but her physician started her on a different medication which he feels will be helpful with her symptoms. It's a bit sedating, so she spent the first part of the Thanksgiving meal kind of blissed out and loopy. She snarfed most of the roasted carrots and I wished I had more for her because she hasn't been able to eat much of anything lately and it was great to watch her enjoy herself. After the meal we all piled on the couch and watched part of Home Alone until it was time to eat pie.

I've always hated pumpkin pie. I've never been able to eat more than one or two bites of the slimy, spicy goo without shuddering. Zack shares my hatred. But today we are pumpkin pie converts. I used homemade pie crust and tweaked the filling recipe a little and the pie was creamy and mild and Russ was very disappointed because he used to have a pumpkin pie all to himself. Now he has to share.

This is my favorite part of Thanksgiving. It's evening. We shared a peaceful meal with people we love. The dishes are washed and put away. Russ is relaxing on the couch watching ESPN. Zack is curled up in bed reading. We have enough leftovers to carry us through the weekend. We're all comfortable and cozy and looking forward to a long weekend together. I'm such a lucky woman.

Hope everyone who celebrated had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I feel like I'm forgetting something. What is it? I know there was something I was supposed to do. Let's see...

I've baked two pies with made-from-scratch pie crust (I rock); completed a thorough, 6-hour house cleaning; made green bean casserole, stuffing, bread dough, cranberry relish, and salad; crafted a centerpiece for the dining room table; made phone calls to parent volunteers for the First Reconciliation reception next week; washed two loads of laundry; took a nap...

What am I forgetting?

Oh CRAP. that's right. I forgot to post yesterday. I forgot to post after I sent a text message to snoopylover1967 while I was in the midst of a panic attack. Sorry, R. It wasn't a heart attack after all. Ha,ha, imagine that! *sheepish*

I almost forgot to post today, too, but here I am! Hi! *waves*

To all of my LJ friends who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful, peaceful, enjoyable day and safe travels and a minimum of family strife. To all of my LJ friends who do not celebrate Thanksgiving, have a wonderful Thursday and can I come visit you next year?

My love to you all!!

Aion players-

( holy crap )

Yeah, I got nothing so you get a meme. Lucky you! As seen at hjsnapepm 's page:

The iTunes Meme

1. Total number of tracks? 765 (I was sure I had more.)

2. Sort by title. What is the first and last track?

First: A.O.S. - Fizzgig
Last: 7 8 9 - Barenaked Ladies (I honestly thought that was a They Might Be Giants song. Maybe I read it wrong.)


3. Sort by artist name. What is the first and last artist?

First: A.R. Rahman - Jai Ho
Last: 97th Regimental String Band - Cindy (Love these guys but haven't been to one of their shows in years! They play Civil War-era music.)

4. What are the top ten most played tracks?

Polkarama (Weird Al Yankovic), I'll Sue Ya (same guy), White and Nerdy (ditto), E Eats Everything (They Might Be Giants), Flying V (TMBG again), QU (Yep, TMBG), Fat (Weird Al), Go for G (TMBG), Bring Me To Life (Evanescence. And how the heck did that get in there?), Can You Find It? (TMBG).

I think it's obvious who uses iTunes the most in this household and it's Zack. Okay, I love Weird Al and They Might Be Giants, too.


5. What are the top ten last played tracks?

Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis), Whisper in the Dark (Skillet), Comatose (Skillet), Everyone Like Me (Thousand Foot Krutch), You and Me (Lifehouse), Snape V. Snape (Ministry of Magic), Chair (Fizzgig), Time Machine (Fizzgig), 20 Minutes (Fizzgig), Go (Fizzgig).

This is my "Zack is in school and I feel like rocking out...no, I feel emo...no, I feel like seriously ROCKING OUT" playlist. And Fizzgig is one of those "OMG I love their music! WTH do you mean they just broke up?" bands.

6. Search for the following words: Sex, love and death. How often does each word appear?

Sex: 2
Love: 61
Death: 3

Gads, even my iTunes playlist is prudish!!

Hope to be more creative tomorrow but that will depend on a lot of factors, including getting my blood pressure higher than 100/60 where it's been hovering all day. Moan.

A very, very happy birthday to my sweet, sweet snokat !! I hope your special day brings you laughter and joy and lots of drunken good times tonight with good friends! Wish I could be there!

This video made me think of you. It carries a message that you've learned through some painful life lessons. It's also for anyone who labors under the misconception that you are a delicate, entitled, girly princess. I know how strong and determined you really are. You're a princess with a core of steel.

All my love and kisses and snorfles and smooches!



(I don't think the video is embedding. :-( So follow this link instead:
Stronger Woman video - smooch!)

Overheard and observed in the drugstore today; as snokat said, "You can't make this stuff up."

Observed: Dorky guy wearing athletic shorts, a wife-beater, tennis shoes with no socks, uncombed hair and thick-lensed glasses. He approaches a cute woman standing in the aisle next to me. He stares at her until she glances up, and then he smiles in an unsettling way.

Dorky Guy: "Hey there!" (gesturing towards the two tubes of hemorrhoid cream she is holding) "Does it run in the family?"

Woman: (With a nervous look towards me and then back at DG) "Excuse me?"

Dorky Guy: "Does it run in the family? I mean, does your HUSBAND have hemorrhoids, too?" (meaningful and hopeful pause) "Or are you single?"

Woman: "I'm not...I mean, I, uh, I'm married. Ha ha!"

Dorky Guy: "Ha ha! Well, that's just my luck! The beautiful women are always taken. It's so hard to meet a nice woman these days! Ha ha! Do you have a sister?"

Woman: "No. Uhm, I don't. I have to go now." (flees the aisle, clutching her hemorrhoid cream)

Dorky Guy: (Yelling) "GOOD LUCK WITH THOSE HEMORRHOIDS!!"


There's nothing I can add to this. Truly. And thank goodness he didn't try to pick me up, because I had maxi-pads in my basket. No telling what kind of suave line he might have tried to use on me.

Thanks everyone for your positive thoughts and good wishes and prayers for my mom! I visited her today and she looks good; maybe a little thinner, but not ill or wasted, and she's in great spirits and funny as always. I got to the house just after she woke up, so I ran back to the bedroom and snuggled into bed with her. Sometimes you just need some mommy love, you know?


This morning, while I was reading my friends page, I was excited to see an update from Lisa Yee. (She's the author of one of my favorite novels, "Absolutely Maybe.") Today Lisa announced the winners of her annual contest. This year readers were invited to submit a six-word summary of a well-known children's book. I received an honorable mention for my summary of "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret." (My summary: "Dear Margaret. Leave a message. God.") I also had the honor of receiving the "Teen and Son" pick, chosen by Lisa's kids, for "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie." (My summary: Don't give a mouse a cookie.) But my favorite entry, and one of the prize winners, was the summary for "Love You Forever" which was, "Mom's at the window! Help! Police!" If you've ever read this schmaltzy kid's book, you'll understand why it's so funny. I was really hoping for the signed copy of "Absolutely Maybe" or even the petrified orange, but it was still fun to be mentioned.


I'm hosting Thanksgiving dinner for my family this year and I couldn't be happier about it! When I was living with my parents, we very seldom spent Thanksgiving in our own home. Every year we'd pack the car and make the 90-minute trip to Illinois to celebrate with my grandparents. I have few memories of the actual Thanksgiving dinners because by the time we gathered around the table after a round of fighting and back-biting and tense silences, my delicate nervous system was overloaded and I would escape to the cool and quiet of the basement to read old Reader's Digests until it was time to leave. Now that I'm an adult, I still hate the smell of turkey because of associated memories, and I hate traveling on Thanksgiving. This year I don't have to!


I spent a peaceful hour at a local antique mall this afternoon hoping to find table linens and glassware and coffee cups for the holiday meal. I have this thing for vintage, mismatched table settings and serving dishes. I have no idea why. There were two store cats, one a beautiful little calico, and she followed me throughout the shop while I browsed. I found a tablecloth and runner in a nice autumnal print, a glass serving dish, four sweet little coffee cups, and two lovely footed glass bowls. Some of the items were from the "free" box, so I ended up spending only $35 for everything, plus I got to flirt with the calico cat. I would have taken pictures for you, but oh, wait! The replacement camera I bought from Ebay was a complete and utter piece of junk!! But the seller has already refunded the purchase price and the cost of shipping, so it didn't ruin my happy day after all.


And in a final happy note, I was walking through the living room tonight while Russ was watching some kind of baseball thing, and the Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum, was being interviewed. I glanced at the television and then stopped dead in my tracks, my mouth hanging open. Russ caught the expression on my face, gave me an exasperated look and said. "Don't even say it. I know exactly what you're thinking. Exactly."



Yeah, I kinda was thinking that. Sorry, hon.

This will be quick. First of all, to everyone who responded to my post yesterday, THANK YOU!! Your advice was carefully considered and tactfully worded and so incredibly helpful to a floundering mother. I <3 you all. Zack and I had a long talk after school yesterday and he said he thought Mass would be easier for him if I was not there. I could tell he didn't want to hurt my feelings and seemed very relieved when I agreed with him. I am taking verlindahenning 's wonderful advice and sending a little note and treat to school with him on Friday, with instructions that he is not to open it until after Mass. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without all of you. *squeezes*

Whether it was the stress from yesterday or just a random virus, I've been sick all day. As my mother put it so succinctly, I've felt like "crap on crap toast with a generous helping of crap sauce." Unfortunately she was also describing her own condition.

She hasn't been feeling well for months now, with intermittent nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain and a nearly 10-pound weight loss. A recent CT scan showed "something" on her liver and she is going in for additional tests the day before Thanksgiving. Her physicians suspect it could be a harmless cyst, but my mom is also an 11-year breast cancer survivor and they want to rule out any metastatic disease. My whole body went cold typing those words.

When presented with two possibilities, one harmless and one catastrophic, my anxious mind will automatically go skittering toward the more alarming one, so of course I'm worried, but I also realize that losing my head won't change the situation. Still, I would appreciate any spare positive thoughts you might have lying around.

What a morning. Which is why I'm posting early today instead of my usual right-before-I-go-to-bed post. Anyone have a lap handy that I can crawl into for a while? Or does someone want to fix me some hot tea and maybe rub my temples and murmur soothing words? Anyone? How about some advice instead while I go make my own damn tea? Anyone up for giving me some advice? I'll set the scene for you:

Anyone who reads my LJ knows all about my wonderful son, Zack. He's smart and funny and sweet, but has unfortunately inherited his mother's anxious and nervous temperament. Poor thing. He attends Catholic school because in an extremely over-crowded school district, the student-teacher ratio at his school is outstanding (averaging 13 to 1), and we have the advantage of living right next door to the school. All of the staff and students know him and accept him with his quirks. He gets fantastic grades, has a nice group of friends and looks forward to going to school every day. The only problem is church. Now that he's in first grade, he attends a school mass twice a week, and oh, how he dreads it. He once got overheated during a service and felt like he was going to be sick and we hustled him outside so he could get some fresh air. I brought him home and let him rest for a few hours and then took him back to school. It happens to everyone, no big deal, and I thought that would be the end of it. But it wasn't. Now he's reached a point where he expects to feel ill in church and if he thinks about it long enough, he genuinely starts feeling ill. It's a panic reaction, plain and simple. I know all about those. *sigh*

Here's what's complicating matters. When Zack is at mass with just the other students and teachers, he uses his own form of cognitive-behavioral therapy to cope. He tells me he thinks of happy places and funny jokes to take his mind off of being scared. He tells me that he talks to himself and reminds himself that nothing bad happened last time and nothing bad is going to happen this time. I'm proud of him for having the ability to think rationally and use his intelligence to help himself. When he uses his coping techniques he can make it through twice-weekly Mass with no incidents...unless I happen to be there.

When Zack has something special to do, like reading the petitions or presenting the gifts, I make it a point to attend the school mass. He's very well-behaved and reads well and because of this, he is asked to participate in the mass at least every other week. I've gone to every one of those masses and each and every time I've had to cart him out when he starts feeling ill. Let me tell you, the first time it happens, the teachers and other parents and the priest are very sympathetic. The fourth time it happens, you get no sympathy at all, just disgusted looks. He burst into huge wrenching sobs this morning because I was FIVE MINUTES LATE and then he started feeling sick and once again, we did the march out the side door so he could calm down. Once church was over and I took him back to the classroom, he was feeling like himself again.

My first instinct this morning was to scream and run out the door, which I didn't do. My second instinct was to call Russ at work and get his level-headed perspective, because my usual good humor completely deserted me today. Russ sympathized, expressed puzzlement over Zack's behavior and told me I had done everything I could possibly do...which is really all I needed to hear. My final instinct was to run home and pour everything out on my LJ...so, HI EVERYONE!

F-listies, I don't know what to do...I truly don't. I want to be there to show my support but I think Zack does much better if I'm not there. I don't know why my presence would make him fall to pieces, but it seems to. Does it mean I'm a horrible, overbearing mother and I make him so nervous that he gets ill? Or does he just get nervous about participating in the mass and excited because I'm there and the nerves/excitement combo overwhelms him? I stay involved as much as I can...I volunteer in his class and at the library and in the Cub Scout troop. I'm a stay-at-home mom so he has all my attention when he gets home from school. But I don't think I can do those school masses again...I truly don't. I have panic attacks myself and I'm an emetophobe and it's too damn hard on me emotionally to have to escort a pale, trembling, nauseous child out the door every single time I go to a mass. I feel so weak admitting it, but I really don't think I can handle another morning like this morning.

If Zack is going to attend SFBGS, attending mass is not optional for him. As much as I would like to make this problem go away for him, I can't. We always have the choice of sending him to public school, but I don't want to pull him out of a familiar school that he loves just because he freaks out in church. He obviously has the coping skills to deal with panic attacks as long as I'm not around and that makes me feel both happy for him and completely horrible at the same time.

Any advice? It doesn't matter if you have kids or not, truly. What would you do?

*feels a migraine coming on*

I've spent my entire evening putting together a craft for Zack's Cub Scout den. I've been shaping turkey toes out of Fimo clay and baking them, cutting out tail feathers and wattles and trying to wrap *&^%$! floral wire around clothespins with two of my fingers buddy-taped together. But it's such a cute project...a little stand-up turkey that can hold a message card in its beak. I was making a list of suggestions for what the boys could write on their cards ("Happy Thanksgiving!" or "I am thankful for ______!") and then Russ and Zack had to get in on the act and started making little cards that read "Try the green bean casserole!" and "Eat more vegetables!" and "I think the turkey is undercooked!" I suppose this is a long way of saying that I've had more than my share of creative activity tonight, so it's going to be a short NaBloPoMo post.

Except I do have a quick story to tell you. Remember back in June when my dad was so sick and I lost my favorite fountain pen? The one that I used to write all my stories in longhand? I took its loss as a sign from the universe that I was wasting my time writing and I swore I wouldn't write again unless I found the pen. It was painful to give up my stories, but I'm superstitious. Still, I kept hoping the pen would turn up and I searched everywhere in my house - cleaned out closets and drawers and cabinets - all with no luck.

Last night I was thinking about my stories and characters again and feeling a little sad and almost missing everyone in a way even though they're all fictional and most of them aren't even mine. Then I put it out of my mind and went to my desk to do some paperwork. Next to my desk I have a file box for hanging folders where I keep household records and bills to be paid and action items. I check the "Action Items" folder every few days so I don't forget any checks that have to be signed or forms that need to be mailed, etc. So I took the folder from the file box and was shuffling through it, my mind elsewhere, and then I felt and heard something fall from the folder into the file box. I pushed all the files out of the way and THERE WAS MY PEN. Spooky.

On a last NaBloPoMo note, I have a replacement camera arriving soon and I hope to get back to my original posting ideas instead of blathering on about the mundanities of my life. Let's hope the Ebay seller ships the camera quickly before everyone stops reading my journal altogether.

( VIDYA GAEM )

ALSO!! Before I was just throwing around the idea of going back to school just cos I was kinna bored and unsatisfyed with my art and the fact that I was becoming "complacent", but I think I really am going to go back to school now. cambryn and her friend Matt took me to Gemini School of Art and man, it is perfect. We did a little portfolio review with the owners and just talked with them for a couple hours and it was really inspiring, I feel like if I did do the course there, all the missing pieces would be filled in, and I could get a job anywhere. Anyway, dunno how I could pay for it but I'm just excited, I hope I can figure out a way to get in.

If you live in the States and had one of the Scouting for Food bags delivered to your house today, please consider filling it with even one or two items and leaving it out on your porch next Saturday. Zack is a Tiger Cub Scout and we helped distribute the Scouting for Food bags this morning. We covered six blocks with 175 bags and within those six blocks I came across 18 rotting jack-o-lanterns on various porches, was nearly chased out of a yard by a shirtless, half-deaf older gentleman, was barked at by eight different dogs from St. Bernard-size down to chihuahua, and was invited to view a freshly-killed deer, an opportunity that I declined but Zack eagerly accepted.

After two hours of tromping up and down streets, we were all exhausted and only a Dairy Queen mini Blizzard (purely experimental, of course) managed to revive us. For anyone keeping score, currently the Oreo Blizzard is 4/5 spoons, the Tagalong Blizzard is 2/5 spoons and the Extreme Chocolate Blizzard is 10,000,000/5 spoons. I'll need to have another Extreme Chocolate Blizzard next week just for scientific accuracy.

There are few things sweeter than watching a long-distance, high, arcing jump shot sweep through the net without touching the rim...unless it's playing one-on-one with Russ for the first time in five years on a gorgeous fall day.

I'm reading a wonderful YA novel written by Sue Limb, "Girl, 15, Charming but Insane..." and I'm a little in love with Jess Jordan, the main character. It's the first of four novels featuring Jess and I have to figure out how to get my hands on the last three because my library doesn't have them. And "plonker" is one of the greatest terms ever and should be adopted internationally.

I'm starting to lose some steam on this whole NaBloPoMo thing, can you tell? It was a lovely day for us. How is the weekend going for everyone else?

It was Friday the 13th today. Normally I'm not superstitious, but here's a list of what befell me today:

• Opened up the bathroom cabinet, bent to retrieve my robe from the floor, stood up and bashed my head into the corner of the door. Ow.
• Sent Zack off to school without his lunch, his homework folder and a permission slip for art class.
• While delivering lunch, homework folder and permission slip to the school, managed to slam the third finger of my right hand in the entrance door. One exam and x-ray later, discovered I had fractured my fingertip. Double ow.
• Dropped off recyclables and was stung by a disgruntled bee who didn't appreciate having aluminum cans thrown on top of him.
• Strolled by the school playground during afternoon recess to say hi to Zack. While standing at the fence, saw a blur headed in my direction. Only the chain-link fence kept me from being bashed in the face with high-velocity kickball.
• Went back home and hid.

Not that the whole day was bad. There is a tea parlor that just opened in Washington called SerendipiTea. I stopped in today and met the owner who is a lovely and charming woman and a fellow Lapsang Souchong tea drinker. I bought an ounce of Lapsang, a beautiful tea strainer and chatted with her for a while. Besides being lovely and charming, the owner is loquacious and in twenty minutes I learned:

• She used to live in a mansion on a lake in Arizona.
• She adopted three daughters from Russia.
• She is the director of a Serbian choir somewhere in St. Louis.
• She once had all of her jewelry stolen, which her husband forgot to insure although he insured his computer equipment, and she went out and bought diamonds and emeralds to make up for it.
• There is such a thing as a Glamkat, which are decorative cat dolls. She knows the creator of Glamkats personally and the ballerina cat, Galina Ballerina, is modeled after her daughter Galina.
• She is acquiring the space next door to her tea parlor and is hoping to open a Victorian Trading Company franchise along with a larger tea room.
• She once visited all the tea rooms in France on an extended stay.
• The president of the local junior college has a daughter named "Devon" after Devonshire Cream.
• She uses words like "behemoth" and "festoon."
• She is making mole poblano crepes for the "Chocolat" movie viewing dinner and I should definitely make a reservation to attend.
• Her parlor offers high tea, cream tea, chocolate tea and caviar tea daily. (snokat, we are *so* going to a cream tea as soon as you can clear some time on your schedule to meet me!)

A quote on the SerendipiTea menu read, "there is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea." I couldn't agree more. I'm off for a final cup of Lapsang, a handful of ibuprofen and a good book. Hugs, everyone. Enjoy your weekend!